Just days ahead of the National Thai Language Day, a survey shows that most Thais do not know how many vowels are in their language.

Of 2,452 respondents, only 13.3 per cent knew the correct answer: 21.

National Thai Language Day falls on July 29 every year.

"Most Thais don't know the Thai language," says Dr Nop-padon Kannika, head of ABAC's academic network for community happiness ubservation and research.

According to the survey, many respondents misspell Thai words, pronounce them incorrectly and even misunderstand some words.

Asked who should take the flak for language problems, respondents blamed teenagers, actors, actresses, singers, politicians and media.

Civil service cheats

In the past five to 10 years, Bt10 billion was paid in bribes to get answers for civil service exams, Justice Minister Sompong Amornwiwat said yesterday. The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) found various ways in which cheats landed jobs in government agencies, such as hiring a master's degree holder to take exams.

Sompong said the DSI had a list of possible wrongdoers. He said he would not fire all civil servants identified because it would affect the civil service as a whole, but he would carry out individual probes.